Welcome to Tech Brief, your weekly wrap-up on all that’s happened in the tech and startup industries this week!
This week, McDonald’s attempts to take over the faces of your children with its gaudy, oily Happy Meal boxes (all in the name of tech), local telco Singtel announces a VERY ATTRACTIVE price plan for Spotify subscribers and music lovers in general, Code School offers free online lessons on coding this weekend, Apple joined by its pals in its “f*ck the popo” saga, and more, all in this week’s Tech Brief, right here on DANamic.ORG!
McDonald’s is about to take over your child’s face
The ever-so-dubious Happy Meal has come a long way. In a push towards tech-forward VR (virtual reality), the box that the artery-clogging meal comes in is now the main draw, instead of the toy that accompanies it.
As seen in this actually-pretty-complicated video tutorial, the box transforms into a VR headset, much like the Google Cardboard, but flimsier!
Don’t expect insane queues here in Singapore, though; the VR headset is only available in 7 stores in Sweden. If this pilot is well-received though, the takeover might just be launched worldwide.
Singtel Launches “Singtel Music”… and Spotify Premium is Included!
In an unusual act of charity, local telco Singtel has announced “Singtel Music”, a bundle subscription plan that offers access to Spotify, KKBOX, or AMPed for just… S$7.90 a month! (!!!)
The future is now coming soon; once we realise that paying for data is dumb.
Done With “Discover Weekly” on Mondays? Spotify Launches “Fresh Finds”
Updated every Wednesday, “Fresh Finds” is an algorithm-based playlist that captures breakout tracks and artists, right before their music earns worldwide acclaim.
Curated by “Spotify tastemakers” (aren’t we all), the new playlist will span five genres; Fire Emoji (hip-hop), Basement (electronic), Hiptronix (vocal pop), Six Strings (guitar driven), and Cyclone (experimental). What’s your faction?
Code School To Offer Free Coding Lessons Online This Weekend
“How much can you learn over a weekend?”
Don’t make plans this weekend, you’ve got free Code School to play. pic.twitter.com/L02dUVfKm5
— Code School (@codeschool) March 1, 2016
Get on it.
Apple Is Joined by a lot of Bigshots to fight the FBI
It’s shaping up to be the gangfight of the decade. Big names like Twitter, Reddit, AT&T, Airbnb, CloudFlare, eBay, GitHub, Intel, Kickstarter, Medium, and just about everyone is here to defeat The Big Evil.
Apple‘s keeping count of its new friends, by the way.
The encryption battle is turning really stupid ugly, with the FBI continuing to push its tone-deaf call for a “backdoor”, while public support swings towards Tim Cook‘s favour.
And more interesting stories…
- Pinpic: At a pretty place but have zero skill for taking photos? This new startup is “like Uber for photography”. You might still have a chance at cool Instagrams with this new designed by experts”, whatever that means. Will Google Sheets stop crashing now?
Video Of The Week is this Marble-Powered Orchestra, because why the hell not?
The DANamic.ORG Tech Brief arrives every Friday. Set your watches.
Go back in time and read last week’s edition here.
